Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Interesting read in the Denver Post by Mike Chambers about the Denver Pioneers updating their hockey facilities. It's a smart move. Besides the cost of attendance stipends, programs need bells and whistles to lure the top recruits. This includes having updated, modern facilities. UND recently redid their locker room. Omaha has a brand new shiny arena. Programs need to get the upper hand on the competition.

Mike Chambers, Denver Post -- "I love where the program is headed, and this is the last step to put the icing on the cake," said DU coach Jim Montgomery, a Montreal native and former Canadiens forward. "We still get a lot of great recruits, but we've lost on some recruits because we don't have that wow factor when they walk into our locker room like they do at North Dakota, Miami or UNO (University of Nebraska at Omaha)."

North Dakota, Miami (Ohio) and St. Cloud State have pumped millions into arena/locker room renovations, UNO moved into a lavish new facility this past season and Minnesota-Duluth opened a new arena in 2010. Those are five of DU's National Collegiate Hockey Conference rivals.

"We just need to do it," Montgomery said. "Never mind nationally. Just look at our conference."

Magness Arena opened in 1999, a month before the Pepsi Center.

"It's going on 17 years since this building has been here and nothing has been done to the locker room. We need to give it the pop it needs of an elite-level program," Montgomery said. "I think if there's any part of our program that can prevent us from sustaining being a top-five program — which I think we are — would be the dressing room and lounge area."

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Personally, after reading this CBS article, I would rather have Arizona State University go to the WCHA. The NCHC is at the right number. Since the inception of the NCHC, the league has faired well in the NCHC tourney and some of this is due to having 10 non-conference games.

First, let's assume that the NCHC isn't going to want to have an odd number of teams. So, you have to add two more teams giving the NCHC 10 teams. Now, there's a problem to this. You would then lose the number of non-conference games that you can play in, because you would to add conference games.

Arizona State, which played its inaugural season of Division I men’s hockey this past season and is in the process of choosing a conference, is getting closer to that decision. Two sources told WCCO that the Big Ten is no longer in the running to add the Sun Devils, and that the choice is now between the Western Collegiate Hockey Association or the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

A decision from Arizona State is expected within the next two months, a source said, with the Sun Devils officially joining a conference in either 2017-18 or 2018-19 – most likely the latter.

Another concern, right now all of the teams in the NCAA are on equal footing. ASU is a big-time school, there's a very good possibility they'd want to dictate terms. If I was the commissioner of the NCHC, I would take a pass on the Sun Devils.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

These pictures will tell you all you need to know. The Big Ten Conference Tourney, attendance was light. The NCHC actually drew pretty well.

The Big Ten, with power schools Minnesota and Michigan in the championship game of the Big Ten Championship game at the Xcel Energy Center, drew a grand total of 6,180 fans.

For those keeping track, the Univesity of Minnesota's Mariucci Arena is roughly about 8 miles from the Xcel Energy Center. This should be a home game for Minnesota and they can't draw better than this.

Let's compare and contrast, on Saturday, the NCHC drew 11,643 fans for the consolation and championship games at Target Center. On Friday, the Big Ten drew 5,423. Across town at the grungy, run down Target Center, the NCHC drew 10,926. Basically, in two days, the NCHC doubled the attendance of the Big Ten Hockey Conference.

Finally, two mid-majors and a couple of division II schools outdrew five of the biggest schools in division I hockey. I am dead serious. Think about this, the big five conference schools with all of the advantages, can't outdraw the small schools.

Friday, March 04, 2016

Candace Horgan and my buddy Mattew Semisch have been pretty accurate this season in their weekly predictions. So, if haven't seen it, they break down the NCHC's weekend matchups.

Western Michigan at No. 2 North Dakota
Candace: North Dakota gets a sweep and wins the Penrose outright. North Dakota 4-1, 3-1
Matthew: Difficult to see anything other than a UND sweep here. North Dakota 3-1, 3-1. (USCHO NCHC Blog)

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

With six teams in conference play this weekend, Duluth in non conference play, and NCHC leader,

Omaha, off, this is a big weekend for the six teams in NCHC play to gain some ground in the conference standings. So here are three things I believe will come out of this weekend.

1. North Dakota Puts Offense on Display
The final series of an entire month at home, UND looks to close out this homestand just one point behind Omaha, who sits at 29 points on the season. Last time North Dakota met Colorado College this season, Colorado Springs got a good taste of what the UND offense has with UND outscoring CC 10-3 on the weekend, including a 7-2 victory in the Saturday night game. With scoring coming equally on all four lines for UND, I'd expect them to score plenty of goals once again this weekend and take a sweep of CC into their battle in Omaha next weekend.

2. Miami Returns to Winning Ways
Miami had a rough weekend in St. Cloud in their last week of play and were swept by the Huskies. Their off week last weekend couldn't have come at a better time to regroup and refocus to finish out the stretch run strong and healthy, and with their series against Denver at home this weekend, I expect a successful weekend for the Red Hawks. One game will be close and possibly take overtime because Denver is always a tough opponent and very good this season, but Miami comes out hard Friday night and will win by more than one goal.

3. Western Michigan Continues to Roll
Since late November, the Western Michigan Broncos have been on a roll. at 7-1-2 since November 28, they have been one of the top teams in the conference and are finding success as they look to make another return trip to Minneapolis this March. With now only seven points back of third place North Dakota, this is a team who could possibly keep rolling into home ice once the NCHC playoffs start this March. There recent success will continue into St. Cloud this weekend as they take battle with the toughest sub 500 team in the country. This will be the series to watch in the NCHC this weekend.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

You have to love some of the fans from the NCHC. I wonder if there's a black helicopter landing in that fan's back yard. That being said, I really like the fact that the league engages the fans in a respectful and prompt manner. You can't say that about all of the leagues in college hockey.

@MiamiO_Fan Okay, he's just guessing. We'll have full TV schedule for release next week. Haven't announced anything yet...
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) September 10, 2014

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Looking for a way to watch your favorite NCHC team when they’re playing on the road? Now you can, and even more!

As the National Collegiate Hockey Conference enters its second season of competition, the conference continues to strive to be innovative and at the forefront with fan engagement. With this in mind, the NCHC has partnered with NeuLion to launch its own digital network, NCHC.tv, beginning with the upcoming 2014-15 season, NCHC Commissioner Josh Fenton announced Wednesday, Sept. 10. In doing so, the NCHC becomes the first single-sport NCAA conference to offer a fully integrated digital network.

NCHC.tv will allow fans to watch nearly all of their team’s games live, both home and on the road, while also viewing other NCHC action occurring at the same time. In addition to the live games, fans who subscribe to the network will have access to other live events, as they are produced, and will be able to access archived games and condensed games. Live audio of the games is also included with a subscription.

NCHC.tv will also feature free on-demand video content, without a subscription, from all eight NCHC programs and the conference itself. Among the free on-demand video available on the network will be game highlights, mid-week and post-game press conferences, conference features, such as the Top 5 Goals of the Week, and unique hockey features from the NCHC members.

“We are extremely excited to provide an innovative and integrated concept to our passionate NCHC fan base! The creation of NCHC.tv helps build the brand of the conference and improve the overall fan interaction and experience,” Fenton said. “This significant step forward is a credit to the vision of our member schools for wanting to create something that distinguishes our conference. We look forward to working alongside NeuLion to build the network and content long into the future.”

The integrated approach to video content allows NCHC fans to access their favorite team’s video, as in years past, but fans also now have the option to enjoy video content from the other seven members of the conference and the NCHC, all in one place, helping unite and strengthen the conference brand.

Each team’s website, as well as NCHCHockey.com, will have a NCHC.tv player embedded on it that will show a limited amount of free archived and on-demand video, while subscription-based live games and other content will be viewed directly on the digital network. All free archived and on-demand content will also be available on the network. NCHC.tv will be accessible via NCHCHockey.com and each member school’s men’s ice hockey website.

Fans that subscribe to NCHC.tv through the conference package will have access to watch over 100 games live throughout the season, including over 70 conference games and over 30 non-conference games from seven different venues, allowing fans to watch nearly every home and road conference game of their favorite team. The only games not available on the NCHC digital network are non-conference road games and NCHC contests with rights restrictions due to television agreements. Also, due to rights restrictions, games originating from the University of Denver’s Magness Arena will not be shown, however on-demand video of Denver’s content will be available through NCHC.tv.

The digital network, powered by NeuLion, will give fans a unique action-packed hockey experience with high quality, HD live video on multiple devices. The network’s live and on-demand video will be available seamlessly across all mobile devices by putting the same web address (www.NCHC.tv) in any mobile browser. This is done through a responsive design technique that automatically detects the screen size and adjusts for optimal viewing. NCHC.tv also allows schools and fans to easily share video content across over 25 social media channels, including the ability to embed video players on third-party sites.

“We are excited to partner with the NCHC,” said Steven Brown, SVP of College for NeuLion. “Our expertise in creating digital destinations for major hockey leagues and throughout college athletics, coupled with the NCHC hockey content, will give their dedicated fan base a second-to-none digital experience with unlimited access to their favorite content, including high-quality live video, anytime and anywhere.”

Based in Plainview, N.Y., NeuLion is a leading digital video technology company powering live and on-demand content to viewers worldwide. NeuLion currently serves as the digital technology provider for four NCHC members – Miami, North Dakota, Omaha and Western Michigan – as well as over 150 NCAA schools and several conferences, such as the Big 12, the Big Ten Network, the Pac-12 and the Ivy League; which all use the NeuLion College Platform to deliver live and on-demand games, news, and information to their fans on multiple devices.

In addition to college, NeuLion powers the digital products for many of the major hockey leagues including the NHL, the AHL, the ECHL and other Canadian junior leagues like the OHL and WHL, as well as other sports leagues, teams and networks, such as the UFC, NBA, MLS and Univision.

While much of the on-demand video content will be free, there are several subscription packages from which fans can choose. To enjoy access to over 100 NCHC regular-season games that will be streamed live, fans can purchase the conference season package for $89.95, which offers the highest value among all streaming packages at well less than $1 per game. For fans who only want access to their favorite team’s games, including road contests at NCHC schools, season packages are available for $74.95. Monthly and single-event packages will be available at a later date.

Fans can sign up now for NCHC.tv and select their season subscription package at NCHC.tv. All fans that sign up for a conference season subscription prior to Sept. 25 will receive an $8 discount on their package ($81.95), further dropping the per-game price. Subscribers of a conference season package by Sept. 25 will also be automatically entered into a contest to win four Treasure Island VIP Club tickets and a complimentary hotel room in downtown Minneapolis on March 20-21 for the 2015 NCHC Frozen Faceoff. In addition, fans who subscribe prior to Sept. 25 will receive a 15 percent off discount code to be used on the NCHC’s Fan Shop by Oct. 30 (good on conference and school merchandise).

Any subscriber who signs up for a conference season package will automatically receive the NCHC Tournament games available on the network. A separate postseason package will be available closer to the end of the season for those who do not have a conference season subscription.

As of today, Sept. 10, fans will no longer be able to sign up for live streaming hockey subscriptions through a member school’s website and hockey subscriptions will no longer be automatically renewed. For fans of Miami, North Dakota, Omaha or Western Michigan who already have an existing subscription that allows access to hockey content through a member school, NeuLion will upgrade them to the conference level package on NCHC.tv for the remainder of their existing subscription. In advance of the full network launching, an email will be sent to the fan with their username and login for NCHC.tv, along with the expiration date of their current subscription. Once the current subscription expires, those fans would then have the option to select any of the packages (conference or school) available on NCHC.tv at the regular price. For fans with subscriptions through member schools that allowed access to other sports content in addition to hockey, they will still have access to that content through the member site for the duration of their subscription. New non-hockey subscription packages will then also be available at a different price point on the member websites.

The NCHC’s digital network will be officially launched prior to the start of the season with the official launch date to be announced at a later time. Along with links on NCHCHockey.com and member sites, once live, fans can access NCHC.tv directly at this link: www.NCHC.tv. For help or issues with subscribing, contact NCHCtv@neulion.com.

Subscribers will enjoy their first live games on Saturday, Oct. 4, when three exhibitions will be streamed through the network, while five more will follow over the next two days. The NCHC’s second season begins in earnest Friday, Oct. 10 with seven teams in action, four of which can be viewed on the NCHC’s digital network. Conference play then opens the following Friday, Oct. 17 as Omaha travels to Western Michigan and North Dakota heads to Colorado College, both of which will be available via a subscription on NCHC.tv.

Monday, April 28, 2014

For those that haven't seen it, the NCHC and the NCAA will have their summer meeting, and one of the topics of discussions at the NCHC meetings is going to be the league's exclusivity clause with the CBS Sports Network. I believe this short sighted clause has to change, and I have written about this in the past. I also covered webcasts as well.

Brad Schlossman, UND Hockey Blog -- NCHC MEETINGS: The exclusivity clause in the CBS Sports contract CBS Sports is a good network for college hockey because its broadcasters are so good and so well prepared. It makes for good shows. But the exclusivity clause makes absolutely no sense and is damaging to the league. Without it, the league could triple the number of games it has on TV each season through Fox College Sports and possibly even the ESPN networks.

I don’t think the clause even makes sense for CBS. What other major sport does that? I can’t think of any network that blocks games from national TV that it has no intention to televise. If CBS continues to block national games, I can’t imagine the NCHC continuing its relationship with the network. I believe there are two years left on the deal. I’m not sure if there’s an out clause, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was one. I know the league has one with the Target Center.

When this league was put together, we heard athletic directors talk all about exposure and moving the league forward in regards to television. There has only been one year — and there were bound to be growing pains — but if the league doesn’t address this issue, the athletic directors’ statements on that summer day in Colorado Springs back in 2011 ring hollow. - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/?p=97670#comments

This past year, I don't know how many comments, emails and tweets I got about the NCHC television exclusivity deal. The fans simply didn't like it. Many UND hockey fans live outside the regional area and used to watch "almost all" of UND home games on Fox College Sports. This past year, many of these same fans were no longer able to see UND's home games on FCS. Fans also don't want to have to deal with webcasts, either. Hopefully this changes this season.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

NCHC Fans... You won't need cable, or a satellite dish this weekend. You will be able to watch whatever NCHC playoff game you want this weekend. All you need is a internet connection.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With the inaugural NCHC Tournament starting this weekend, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference is giving fans a chance to watch every single quarterfinal game live for free right from their home or mobile device. NCHCHockey.com will have a live stream of each contest this weekend (March 13-16), allowing fans to watch any game they want without paying a penny.

Here we are the regular season has come to an
end in the inaugural NCHC season.The
race for the Penrose Cup is over with SCSU claiming the first ever NCHC regular
season title. Now we are at the first
round of playoffs, so let’s get it started in here.

Last weekend the Broncos split with NoDak (2-0L,
2-1W) in Grand Forks and the Bulldogs split with UNO (8-2W, 4-1L) in Duluth.

Season series – UMD wins 3-1-0 – split in
Duluth swept in Kalamazoo

Well with the teams tying in the standing, with
identical records too, it make sense to predict a three game series.These teams are evenly matched on paper, and
similar on the ice. I’m giving my nod to the home team.BULLDOGS IN 3

Last weekend the Pioneers split with the RedHawks
(5-2W, 2-1L) in Denver and the Mavericks split with the Bulldogs (8-2L, 4-1W)
in Duluth.

Season series – UNO wins 3-1-0 – swept in Denver
and split in Omaha

This is short week for both teams with the
series starting on Thursday.DU was one
win away from hosting a first round game, but could pull it off on Saturday
night.Can the Pioneers put last weekend
behind them and focus on the Mavericks?The
Pioneers are 6-6-5 on the road, doesn’t get much more even than that, the
Mavericks are 9-9-0 at home and 7-7-2 on the road… someone is going to end up
with a losing there five hundred record.MAVERICKS IN 3

#40 Miami
@ #5 SCSU

Last weekend the RedHawks split with the
Pioneers (5-2L, 2-1W) in Denver and the Huskies split swept CC (7-4, 4-1) in Colorado
Springs.

Season series – tied 2-2-0 – splits in both
Oxford and St. Cloud

The RedHawks started the season the number one
team in land, now they are 40th in the pairwise rankings, and the Huskies
are 5th in the PWR.The Huskies
have only 8 loses all season, 6 in the NCHC and 2 are to Miami.I think the Huskies will be ready when MU
comes calling this weekend, but it wouldn’t surprise me if MU forced a three
game series.HUSKIES IN 2

#51 Colorado
College @ #10 North Dakota

Last weekend NoDak split with the Broncos (2-0W,
2-1L) in Grand Forks and the Tigers were swept by SCSU (7-4, 4-1) in Colorado Springs.

Season series – UND wins 2-0-0 – UND swept in Grand
Forks

The Tigers have been abysmal on the road this
season, going 1-13-2 away from Colorado Springs.CC is currently on a four game skid, after
winning the previous three, they have given up 19 goals in those last four
loses.Look for UND to bring the
pressure and score early and often, to keep the Tigers in their cage, so to
speak.NODAK IN 2

That’s no easy task. Standing in their way, the Broncos who are coached by former NHL head coach Andy Murray. The Broncos proved to be a miserable team to play against. They limited UND’s time and space and didn’t give them an opportunity to set up in the offensive zone in the later stages of the game.

Ironically, standing in the way of UND winning the inaugural Penrose was the last two teams invited to join the NCHC, Western Michigan and Saint Cloud State.

“It sucks,” junior defenseman Nick Mattson said. “You can’t really sugar coat that one. That was an opportunity that we worked our butts off all year, to put ourselves in that spot. Tough to let it slip away.”

With the loss to the Broncos and the Saint Cloud State win, UND (20-11-3, 15-9-0 NCHC) will host seventh place Colorado College (6-22-6, 6-13-5 NCHC) in the first round of the NCHC playoffs. The focus now turns to the ultimate prize, the conference playoffs, a league title and an NCAA title.

“At the end of the day, that one stings,” senior captain Dillon Simpson said. “There was a lot on the line. It being senior night for me and my classmates. That was one we definitely wanted. Like I said in that dressing room, we missed out on a white banner, but our angle is still the same. We have to move forward towards that.”

“I am looking at the big picture, head coach Dave Hakstol said. “How good of a job the guys in that locker room have done, coming together. Pushing hard to be a good team – we are a good team. It stings. At this time of year, you have to have a short memory.”

UND thought they had gotten a break. With the game tied 1-1, Bronco forward Josh Pitt was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for contact to the head at the 05:53 mark of the third period. Western forward Colton Hargrove would score the game winning goal, shorthanded, two minutes later.

“Even after giving up the shorthanded goal, we just couldn’t get enough going in the offensive zone, possession wise or offensively,” Hakstol said.

UND will host the Best-of-three, first-round series at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The series starts Friday March 14, 2014, at 7:38 p.m. Central.

Stats of interest

On November 30, 2013, UND was 4-7-2 UND. Since that time, UND has gone 16-4-1.

Since November 30, 2013, Zane Gothberg is 13-2-1, with a .935 save percentage and a 1.63 goals against average.

UND goalie Zane Gothberg finished first in the NCHC with a 2.02 Goals Against Average. Gothberg was also tied for second with Lukas Hafner with a 2.24 Save Percentage

Tuesday, March 04, 2014

With one week remaining, the National Collegiate Hockey
Conference standings are very tight. We probably won’t know the seeding’s for
the NCHC playoffs until after all of the games have been played on Saturday
night.

University of North Dakota (19-10-3, 14-8-0 NCHC) –
Pairwise Ranking 9. This weekend: North Dakota entertains the Western Michigan University
Broncos (16-13-5, 10-10-2 NCHC) – Pairwise Ranking T-21. Season series: UND went
2-0-0 against WMU (3-2, 3-2 North Dakota). North Dakota is closing in on securing
an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. More than likely, if UND makes the NCHC
tourney they’re in the NCAA tournament. WMU will probably need to win the NCHC
tourney to make the NCAA tourney.

Saint Cloud State University Huskies (19-8-5, 13-6-3
NCHC) – Pairwise Ranking 4. This weekend: the Huskies travel to Colorado Springs
to take on the Colorado College Tigers (6-20-6, 6-11-5 NCHC) – Pairwise Ranking
48. Season series: the Huskies went 1-0-1 against the Tigers this season (2-2
Tie and 6-2 SCSU). Saint Cloud State is a lock to make the NCAA tourney. Colorado
College will have to win the NCHC tourney to make the NCAA tourney.

University of Denver (15-13-6, 9-10-3 NCHC) – Pairwise
Ranking 26. This weekend: Denver entertains Miami University (11-18-3, 5-16-1
NCHC) – Pairwise Ranking 41. Season series: The two teams split their season
series so far (3-1 Miami and 4-2 Denver). From looking at the Pairwise, it
appears that Denver needs to win the NCHC tourney to make the NCAA tourney. Same
for Miami there’s no other way Miami can make the NCAA tournament.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

It's a double for Rocco Grimaldi this week as the Sophomore forward has the second best play of the week in the NCAA. But we're not done there, Rocco also has the second best goal in the NCHC this week.

Sunday, February 09, 2014

During UNO's 6-3 win against UND, Nebraska-Omaha head coach Dean Blais was tossed from the
game by NCHC official Andy Thiessen for not putting a player in the penalty box after his team took an unsportsmanlike penalty. No one really knows what
was said, for the Mavericks to get an unsportsmanlike bench penalty.

“We dealt with some adversity at the start of the game,” UNO
Maverick forward Josh Archibald said. “With (Dean) Blais getting kicked out of
the game, our team battled back and good things happen when you battle back. We’re
lucky to come out on top tonight.”

“I don’t really know how we got the two-minute unsportsmanlike
penalty for the bench minor to start things off. I just don’t think that coach
agreed with it and a lot of the guys on the bench didn’t agree with it. He just
kept saying no to the ref and I guess he got thrown for that.”

It appears that coach Blais being tossed from the game,
actually fired up his hockey team. Archibald would go on to score a natural hat
trick and add an assist for a four-point night.

Archibald was asked if his coach getting tossed from the
game fired up the Mavericks.

“If he (coach Blais) is going to do stuff for like that
for us, we’re going to battle for him any day.”

Check out this article with UND junior defenseman Nick Mattson, he's made the transition from the USHL to college hockey very nicely. My brother-in-law Andy Brink, who run the Breakaway Hockey School with former Gopher and Buffalo Sabres forward Dave Snuggerud, talks highly of Mattson and his skills as well.